


A Room of Her Own

by drneroisgod



Series: You're All The Things I've Got to Remember [1]
Category: H.I.V.E. Series - Mark Walden
Genre: Adopted Children, Drabble, Ficlet, Gen, Parent-Child Relationship, Platonic Relationships, hive drabble, jk there is no hell raising but it fits raven's vibe, raising Hell, raising teens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-11 15:28:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20548427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drneroisgod/pseuds/drneroisgod
Summary: Shortly after moving H.I.V.E. to a volcanic island, Dr. Nero shows his young protégée to her living quarters.





	A Room of Her Own

“This is it,” Nero said, gesturing to the pristine white doors. “Try the retinal scanner.”

Raven stepped forward, holding her eyes wide in front of the small camera embedded in the wall. Nothing happened. Feeling somewhat foolish, Raven turned back towards Nero. He smiled gently.

“Tap the screen first,” he said apologetically. 

Raven touched a finger to the glass, and a blue light glowed, flashing over her face once, twice. 

“Welcome, Raven,” the screen flashed. The doors hissed open like a whisper, revealing a dark, empty room. Raven stared at it. 

“Well? Go on.” Nero tucked his hands behind his back, steadily waiting for Raven to take the first step. Glancing back—not for permission, she reminded herself, but perhaps to reassure herself that he would follow—Raven slowly walked in. It was dark, and not all that big. Admittedly, Raven had spent many of her years in abandoned warehouses and overfull dormitories. She was used to bigger spaces with more company. In here, she would be alone. And there were no windows. 

“Here we are,” Nero said, fiddling with the manual switch on the wall. “We had the builders keep the power off as we settled in, but after this,” at this, the overhead lights began to glow, “the lights should be motion-activated.”

“Oh,” Raven said. She turned, slowly, realizing. “I thought you said this would be my  _ room _ .”

“It is your room. Sitting room’s here, kitchen’s there, and your bed and bath are just through there,” Nero gestured. 

“Dr. Nero, this is a whole house! And you don’t expect me to share it with anyone?”

Nero couldn’t hide a satisfied smile—clearly, he had hoped to surprise Raven with her quarters, and her amazement made his secrecy worth the while. 

“You’re not a student here, Natalya, you’re my employee,” he replied. “The professor, the Contessa, the colonel—they all have similar arrangements. You are by no means receiving special treatment.”

Raven scooted on the tips of her toes to look into the bedroom. “All mine.”

“All yours,” Nero said. “I’ve already arranged for the bed to be delivered shortly, so you’ll be able to sleep here tonight. Obviously, the room is always yours to use when you are between missions. If you prepare a list of staple foods you like, I can arrange for the kitchens to stock the fridge before your arrival so you can cook, if you so desire.”

Raven sauntered to the kitchen and peered into the cabinets. Empty. Gray. Stark. In another school, these words promised hunger, desolation. Daily bread? That was a privilege earned through the crackle of cartilage and the proud display of plum-red bruises. She had eaten, in the end, but not well.

Raven had not missed a meal in many weeks. That was Dr. Nero’s doing. In his world, hunger was not an enemy to be conquered but a companion in corporeality. (He was the kind of man who used words like that when he was lost in thought.) To be hungry was to be alive, simple as that.

Raven left the cupboard doors hanging wide. The thought made her smile.

“Enjoying yourself?” Nero asked.

“I’ve never had my own room before,” Raven said quietly. “Not in a real house.”

“Semantically, I’m not sure if we can call a secret volcanic island a ‘house,’” Nero said with a crooked smile. “But that said… my only hope is that, in time, you will consider this not just a house, but your home. We all will.”

Raven suddenly felt the need to sit on the floor. She stretched her legs out in front of her in a wide V, splaying her arms far behind her, and letting her head simply fall back. Dr. Nero looked down; Raven looked up.

“That sounds nice,” she told him.


End file.
